Four major oil companies said on Feb. 17 they are ready to deploy an interim system to cap future leaks in deepwater oil wells, paving the way for deepwater activity to resume. The system was created by the Marine Well Containment Co., a consortium formed by ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement required that such a system be in place before it issues any new deepwater drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico. The new device, made by Trendsetter Engineering, Houston, includes a subsea capping stack with the ability to either
The nation’s second new nuclear enrichment facility could be under construction before the end of the year, while a third languishes in need of a Dept. of Energy loan guarantee. The new facilities—one in Idaho, one in New Mexico and a third in Ohio—are needed to supply existing nuclear powerplants in the United States and could be expanded to supply new ones. Rendering: Courtesy Areva Eagle Rock plant in Idaho would be a French-U.S. engineering joint venture. Photo: Courtesy Urenco Plant in New Mexico is in production. Paris-based Areva on Feb. 11 signed a two-phase contract with San Francisco-based URS
The New Zealand earthquake surprised engineers by triggering severe damage or collapse of some recently constructed buildings. Photo: AP Photo/Kyodo News, Shuzo Shikano Rescue workers search for victims buried under the rubble near the Canterbury Television building in Christchurch, New Zealand, Wednesday night, Feb. 23, 2011. The magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck 10 km from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on Feb. 22 brought down or severely damaged some contemporary structures because the quake was extremely shallow—centered only 5 km below the surface. “New Zealand has very good loading standards and a strict regulatory environment and since the mid-70s onwards,
Photo: Courtesy of AP Images The magnitude-6.3 quake that hit Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand on Feb. 22 caused more damage than the magnitude-7.1 quake in the same region in September because the more recent temblor was only five kilometers deep and only about 10 km from the city center. Damage to historic structures, especially Christchurch Cathedral, was significant; however, even modern buildings—including the Pyne Gould Guiness Building —collapsed, for a total of about 12. Soil liquefaction caused mudflows that damaged roads and houses. Reports say the quake is not connected to the same fault line as
Hundreds of roofs in the Northeast collapsed after a series of winter storms swept through the region from just before Christmas until the week after Groundhog Day, with minimal thawing in between. The accumulated loads proved more than many commercial flat-roof systems could handle. Photo: Courtesy Town Of Nottingham, N.H. Roof of Nottingham, N.H., town garage proved no match for series of winter storms. Injuries were minimal, but as the tally of structural failures mounted, some began to wonder whether it is time to re-examine building codes if the region is entering a climate-change cycle that will trigger increased precipitation
The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center is calling on seismic engineers, government agencies and researchers to try out a “live” beta version of a web-based interactive tool that will allow them—free of charge—to search, extract and download recorded ground motions for the analysis and design of earthquake-resistant structures. Seismic engineers familiar with the tool are already lauding it, especially for use in performance-based earthquake engineering. Photo: Courtesy of Peer Web-based app lets engineers explore many seismic scenarios. The 2010 PEER Ground Motion Database allows users to select ground-motion records to match the seismic code’s response spectrum or a customized site-specific
The long-awaited report from the chief investigator for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore, released Feb. 17, provides damning evidence that preventable engineering and management mistakes—rather than mechanical failings—were the primary cause of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion last spring. Related Links: Full report The National Commission released its final report to the president on January 11. In that report, the panel concluded that human error, rather than mechanical failings, was the root cause of the explosion. The new report from chief investigator Fred Bartlit’s team, which looked in detail at the well blowout
While a demolition contractor clears debris and stabilizes the site of what the owner claimed was the largest sloped green roof in North America, a forensics team is investigating why the structure suddenly collapsed on the afternoon of Feb. 13. Photo: Courtesy Aquascape Freeze-thaw cycle following major snowfall apparently triggered collapse of large green roof near Chicago. Related Links: Ice, Snow Take Toll on Northeast Roofs, But Engineers Say Codes Are Adequate The 700-ft by 50-ft area of roof that collapsed was attached to a warehouse. There were no injuries or inventory damage, said Ed Beaulieu, vice president at Aquascape,
Turkey is proposing a major dam-building program, proposing at least 18 new dams along its borders. The government claims the multiyear, multimillion-dollar infrastructure initiative would ease tensions over water-sharing, prevent flooding, irrigate farmland and generate electricity. On Feb. 6, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian Premier Naji al-Otari broke ground for the Dostluk Baraji, or Friendship Dam, on the Orontes River, which flows from Lebanon into Syria and Turkey. The dam, 580 meters long and 14.5 m high, is designed to create a reservoir large enough to store 115 million cu m of water. At an estimated cost
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